Reza Baluchi Wants to Run to Bermuda

Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!

Reza Baluchi Likes to Run

Reza Baluchi is an Iranian-born endurance runner. He immigrated to America to escape persecution in Iran, and yet now he has to deal with even more persecution from the U.S. Coast Guard. Why, you might ask.

Because Reza wants to “run” from Florida to Bermuda. 

[Raising] money for children in need and to inspire those that have lost hope for a better future. – Reza Baluchi

For the more geographically challenged amongst us, it’s nearly a three-hour flight from Florida’s southeast coast to Bermuda. Also, Bermuda is an island out in the Atlantic ocean. Conventional logic says that running there isn’t really in the cards. But with the immutable spirit that animates all endurance runners, Reza has a plan.

Enter the Hydro Pod!

A bubble much like a hamster wheel, the hydro pod features 36 buoyancy balls attached to each side. As Reza, who would be inside the ball, runs, the ball spins and propels over the surface of the water.  The result should be a difficult five-month trip that would take him from Pompano Beach to the Bermuda triangle, then on to Puerto Rico, Hati, and Cuba before he heads back to Florida.

Coast Guard Says No

#BreakingNews: HydroPod voyage from Miami to Bermuda had recently been determined to be manifestly unsafe.

— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) April 24, 2016

Reza set off equipped with a GPS tracking device, a life vest containing a water filter, and shark repellent. He was planning on fishing for food, eating protein bars, and sleeping on a hammock inside the pod. What could possibly go wrong?

According to the Coast Guard, everything.

In a letter dated April 15, Coast Guard Capt. A.J. Gould told Reza that his voyage was “manifestly unsafe,” and that any voyages not cleared through his offices first would be terminated.

#BreakingNews: Adventure runner’s voyage ends after he violated a USCG order not to embark on his seagoing journey. pic.twitter.com/FxNUEawySO

— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) April 24, 2016

It’s unclear what aspect of the voyage was deemed unsafe. It could have been the treacherous ocean conditions, the pending hurricane season, or maybe the fact that inside the hydro pod can reach temperatures up to 120 degrees. Whatever the reasoning, the Coast Guard swept in and put an end to his attempts.

Running Forward

What’s next for the athlete? It’s possible he’ll try again at some later date. Seeing as how this isn’t even his first time attempting the feat!

#BreakingNews Baluchi’s 2014 attempt placed enormous financial burden on taxpayers for his rescue. He was recently ordered not to depart.

— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) April 24, 2016

That’s right; Reza also had to be rescued back in 2014 for trying to do the exact same thing. Back then, he was spotted off the coast of St. Augustine after his GPS had fallen into the ocean. Boaters reported a disoriented man in a bubble asking for directions to Bermuda.

To his credit, Reza doesn’t want trouble. But I can’t assume this is the last we’ll have heard of him.

I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to fight with the Coast Guard. I want peace. I’m a lover, not a fighter. I want to find a lawyer to help me.

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